Books: The Book Thief

I read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak in March for my book club. This is another book I probably wouldn’t have read if not for my book club. I see the subject matter and just don’t know if I can read another book about Nazi Germany. But I did read this one, and I’m glad I did. It was great on so many levels. For someone like me, who loves to read and believes in the power of words, it’s brilliant.

“I wanted to tell the book thief many things, about beauty and brutality. But what could I tell her about those things that she didn’t already know? I wanted to explain that I am constanly overestimating and underestimating the human race — that rarely do I ever simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant.” (p. 550)